Tatas up exposure to banking stocks

 In fray for new banking licences, Tatas have acquired shares in about two dozen banks and NBFCs, such as ICICI Bank, SBI, HDFC Bank and Axis Bank through one of its group investment firms.

The shares have been acquired by Tata Investment Corporation Ltd, whose portfolio of bank stocks rose to nearly Rs 183 crore, and that of non-banking financial sector stocks grew to about Rs 114 crore at the end of last fiscal.

Tata Investment Corp made fresh investments in shares of at least three banks — J&K Bank, PNB and South Indian Bank — during the fiscal ended March 31, 2013.

Besides, its holding went up in shares of lenders like Andhra Bank, Bank of Baroda, Central Bank, Corporation Bank, ICICI Bank and Indian Bank during the year.